Manifolding



Patented July 4, 1939 UNITED STATES MANIFOLD-ING Brice W. Kinyon, Audubon, N. J.

No Drawing.

Application April 21, 1937,

Serial No. 138,278

3 Claims.

V 5 other like substances from a carrier to a copy receiving surface to make on the latter a visible impression.

The object of my invention is to fix the impression of carbon paper or other similar media 0 so that subsequent smearing and blurring is eliminated, legibility is improved, the impression is brightened and made resistant to erasure. By this method of treatment the impression from the carbon paper or the like is fixed-into the sheet to give improved characteristics, and these characteristics will hereinafter be more fully described.

In the following description ink, unless otherwise designated, is taken to mean the pigment carrying wax-like coating on a transfer member which is transferred to a copy receiving sheet by application of pressure to produce a copy of typing, writing, or other indicia. A copy so made will hereinafter be referred to as a carbon copy.

Carbon paper, whichmay be used as an example, consists of a sheet of tissue paper coated on one face with what may be called ink. This ink consists of carbon black or other pigment dispersed in a vehicle or carrier. The vehicle or carrier, for the purpose of this invention, may be of any suitable substance which is rendered more or less fluid by heat, such as paraffin, ceresin, carnauba wax and the like with or without an oil or similar plasticizer.

In the practice of making manifold copies, the carbon paper is alternated between sheets of writing paper or the like with the inked face of the carbon paper against the face of the sheet on which the desired copy is to be produced. Any pressure such as that from type-face striking the sheets, or pressure of a pencil results in the transfer of a small amount of ink from the carbcn paper to the sheet in contact therewith.

Examination of a typewritten carbon copy under a microscope of about one hundred magnifications shows that the apparently solid lines of a letter in reality consist of a great number of small spots of transferred ink which cling to the surface fibers of the paper. As the paper consists of interlocking fibers, the surface is irregular and the ink from the carbon paper is only transferred to the surface fibers which the ink contacts. The surface of the transferred ink is rough and the ink particles appear to be only lightly bonded to the fibers of the paper and to each other.

My invention therefore contemplates the treatment of such copy, by a method which causes these ink particles to form solid lines which are 6 not merely held loosely on the surface of the paper but which are bonded firmly to the paper in a manner to fix these impressions and thereby preventsmearing and blurring of the carbon copy. When the copies are treated in accordance with my invention, contact of one set of copies with another does not cause blurring, nor can the ink which has been transferred to the copy receiving sheet in making the carbon copies be again transferred to the hands of persons, to another sheet of paper, or to another portion of the same sheet. Furthermore, the treatment in accordance with my method greatly improves the legibility of the copies so treated and results in manifold copies of which 'the'color'and intensity of a plurality of copies made at the same operation is improved throughout.

My process -consistsin subjecting the carbon copy which has been produced as hereinabove stated to, heat which melts the paraffin or other wax-like pigment carrier and causes it to be absorbed into the fibers of the impression receiving paper. Other substances used as a part of the pigment carrier or vehicle, such as paraffin oil, mineral oil and oleicacid are also rendered more fluid and are absorbed by the fibers of the copy receiving paper. By this treatment, the ink which is otherwise loosely attached to the surface of the paper is firmly bonded in the paper and is thereby rendered compact and smooth.

I have found that the use of a blotting surface against the ink impressions on the carbon copy is in some cases useful in eliminating the possibility of an excessive amount of ink melting and running over the paper. I have also found in the practice of my invention that the heat may be applied to either or both sides of the carbon copy, but I have found that the application of heat to the reverse side of the paper tends to absorb the ink more firmly into the fibers and therefore often results in better copies than when the heat is applied to the ink carrying surface of the paper.

The temperature necessary to melt the vehicle or carrier naturally varies, but in general about 250 F. is sufficient. The heat, in accordance with my invention, may be applied in any of several different Ways. The copy for example may be pressed with an electric iron held against a heated platen, pressed between two heated rollers,

slid over a heated cylindrical surface, or held in contact with a rotating cylinder, in the manner of paper held in a typewriter carriage. Furthermore, the heat may be applied in an oven or by radiation from a radiant source of heat. Steam, flame or electricity may be used to produce the heat, and I do not therefore wish to restrict the practice of my method to any particular manner of applying heat to the copy. I have discovered that the result may be enhanced by applying pressure to the copy either during the heating thereof or immediately thereafter. Such pressure tends to more firmly drive the ink into the fibers of the paper and it also eliminates any rough or uneven characteristics from the face of the copy paper.

I have further discovered that after subjecting a carbon copy to the treatment of my method, certain residual particles of the original ink remain on the surface of the copy paper. These residual particles tend to impart a slightly blurred effect to the outline of the letters or other impressions. Since the major portion of the ink has been absorbed into the fibers of the paper in the form of solid lines, these residual particles of ink may be removed from the surface of the paper without danger of smearing or erasing. Such removal may be accomplished by rubbing the copy sheet lightly with an eraser, preferably a soft gum eraser, or otherwise burnishing or removing these particles with the result that the indicia which have been fixed will remain and stand out in clear-cut legible outline.

It will therefore be seen that the practice of my invention results in manifold copies in which the impression is fixed against smudging and smearing, copies in which the impression is brightened and in which the characters stand out in a legible manner. By the practice of my invention a carbon copy is rendered as legible and permanent as a ribbon copy and a great number of carbon copies may be made from the same impression, among which, when treated in accordance with my invention, the last copy will be as good as a second preceding untreated copy and all will be legible and fixed as contemplated by this invention.

It will be seen that the invention is capable of being performed in a number of different ways and the exercise of my method shall therefore be unrestricted, other than by restrictions that may be imposed thereon in the subjoined claims.

What I claim is:

1. The method of producing fixed manifold copies upon a copy receiving member which comprises the steps of superimposing upon said copy receiving member a transfer sheet having on the face thereof in contact with the copy receiving member a pigment dispersed in a carrier which becomes more or less fluid under the influence of heat, transferring a portion of said pigment and carrier to the surface of said receiving member by applying pressure to the back of said transfer sheet at spaced points thereof to form spaced intelligible characters on said copy receiving member, thereafter subjecting said manifold copies to the influence of heat to cause an absorption of carrier and pigment in said copy receiving member.

2. The method of producing fixed manifold copies upon a copy receiving member which comprises the steps of superimposing upon said copy receiving member a transfer sheet having on the face thereof in contact With the copy receiving member a pigment dispersed in a carrier which becomes more or less fluid under the influence of heat, transferring a portion of said pigment and carrier to the surface of said receiving member by applying pressure to the back of said transfer sheet at spaced points thereof to form spaced intelligible characters on said copy receiving member, thereafter subjecting said manifold copies to the influence of heat to cause an absorption of carrier and pigment and then removing residual particles of carrier and pigment from the surface of said copy.

3. The method of producing fixed manifold copies upon a copy receiving member which comprises the steps of superimposing upon said copy receiving member a transfer sheet having on the face thereof in contact with the copy receiving member a pigment dispersed in a carrier which becomes more or less fluid under the influence of heat, transferring a portion of said pigment and carrier to the surface of said receiving member by applying pressure to the back of said transfer sheet at spaced points thereof to form spaced intelligible characters on said copy receiving member, thereafter subjecting said manifold copies to the influence of heat to cause an absorption of carrier and pigment and subjecting said manifold copies to pressure.

BRICE W. KINYON. 

